The Greatest Country on Earth

By the grace of God, we could be the ones who have this extraordinary need. This happened hundreds of miles to our west; these are our neighbors. These are people in need and Texas is going to do everything we can in our power to help."
Governor Rick Perry of Texas.

And that's why we live in the greatest country on earth. The Saudi's could give a fuck. Europe would just as soon us drown. Only the US cares. Only we have that Judeo-Christian "this could have happened to me" which prompts us to act when people are in need.

A Politically Incorrect Question

The near total devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi is horrific and it brings me to tears every time I think of it, so I'm going to ask this question:

At what point do we say "Enough." and call it a total loss?

The idea that a city would be built lower than the body(ies) of water that surround it in a region known for violent, catastrophic storms is ludicrous.

New Orleans culture marks it as a beautiful city.... A city worthy of existence.... A city that deserves to be built ABOVE SEA LEVEL!!!

At what point do we move the whole thing to the other side of Lake Poncetrain and start over?

I don't know.... I'm asking...?

At what point do we as a country, hug New Orleans and say, "Sweetie, it was fun the 300 or so years it lasted, but now, it's 25 feet underneath the Gulf Of Mexico. Cry your eyes out; Pack what's left of your belongings and let it go.

The religious police

I've been reading this blog for some time now. He's a Saudi ex-patriot living in the UK. It's very interesting that in the Saudi culture they have "religious police" patrolling the streets searching for someone breaking a religious law. How close are the parallels to Reverend Phelps, Doctor Dobson and the Theologues in this country. Why do we, as humans, feel the need to tell other people how to live their lives? I know you think you've found the answer in Jesus, or Allah, or Weight Watchers or Scientology or whatever legalistic power-mad cult is trying to take over the world this week, but please give the rest of us a little credit. Although it's not apparent from network television, the american public can think for themselves.

The Anti-Gay Movement

Well, The our old friend Reverend Phelps hit a new low with his rhetoric of hate. This story talks about the funereal of a soldier desecrated by a protest. God help the mind so blinded by hate that it requires making a statement at the funereal of a hero.

God bless America. And to all active troops all over the world... Thank you for your service. Godspeed. Come home safe.

there went another $800

ok, so I saw this on ebay... The new motorola Q... they've got them... Or at least they're going to get them.... I gotta tell you, I may sell it a few months after I get it, but this phone looks hot has shit. On the right, is the current "RAZR V3" and on the left is the Motorola Q... of the "RAZR-berry" as it's being called.

SFU: "Everyone's Waiting"

After careful consideration, Sunday night's finale episode of Six Feet Under could well be the best finale of episodic television ever in the history of television. If you haven't seen it, you really, really need to.

WWJA: Who would Jesus Assassinate?

I DON'T, repeat, DON'T believe God wants us to assassinate Hugo Chavez. Folks who are not of the Christian Faith, Pat Robertson is to Christianity as Heraldo Rivera is to Journalism. Please don't just us by our crazies.

new cell phones

There are two new cell phones on the horizon that have caught my eye. both promise to allow me to play some of my iTunes music on my phone. One is the Nokia 6682 ( Review) the other is Motorola's iTunes phone, the E790. They are both approximately the size of my 3120 and promise a camera and better web support, both of which are lacking in my current phone. Of the two, the Nokia looks "more sophisticated" to me. Maybe that's just because of my love for my current phone and it's simplicity. I don't know. Both of them are coming to Cingular and will be available in the next month or so. I think i'm scheduled for an "upgrade" in October or September... hmmm.... decisions, decisions.

The Third Law of Motion

I believe that God created the universe as a place of order and not chaos. I believe that even in the universe's so-called "chaos" that God's order exists and can be seen.

For every action in the universe there is an equal and opposite reaction.

-Sir Isaac Newton

The order that Sir Isaac Newton described so many years ago applies to universe in science and sociology. Governments and leaders all around the world seem to go about their business without an understanding of this most imprint principal. Karl Rove as voiced by President George W. Bush crafted a strategy where they took what was, in most American's mind, a non-issue.... Gay Marriage, and made it the centerpiece of their campaign for the presidency and now the pew research center is documenting what Sir Isaac Newton could have told them was inevitable. The GLBTQ conscious asked America if we could get married. They said no. We said "Why?" They didn't have a good answer. And now the arena of ideas is making the case for same-sex marriage in America.

In Darfur, Arabs are committing genocide in the name of Allah and the Islamic faith. The ordered universe that an infinitely powerful and knowlegable God has set up will not abide imbalance. There will be a reaction. And it will be equally as devastating as they action they began. I believe this.

I believe in God. I believe in his created order.

I don't however believe that the world is only 4000 years old and God created the world in seven literal days.

Scientists have discovered through investigation that the earth appears to be over 100 million years old and in that time period has gone through many changes. They can not explain why these changes began nor can they explain why out of all the places in the universe, we came to exist here.

I can't help but believe that a God who exists outside of time and space directed our evolution to create the society and civilization in which we live. I can only speculate as to his motives, but I believe, at least partially, it was driven by a simple desire to create. As someone who believes himself to be "creative" and in a "creative profession", I believe the CREATOR desires to create and watch his vision produce new an interesting things.

I believe that this Creation VS Evolution bullshit is just another wedge issue poiticians want to use to divide us from each other because they've done the demographics and more people believe strongly in one way versus the other. Just like gay marriage, it's a fake issue and has not practical relevance to politics and American life. It seems odd that a nation that was so united on September 11th would now be divided by something so stupid as gay marriage and evolution.... again, Newton's Third Law bites us in the ass...

I won't be baited into that debate. And if the Democrats were smart, neither would they. They would create a vision that looks toward the future and the world they hope to create.

Too bad they aren't that smart.

I watched the movie Kinsey today and was struck at how telling it really was. These Republicans really are the same guys who conducted the witch hunts for Communiststs in America. They believed that Kinsey's research into sex was something that funneled money into the communist party and subverted society.

These Republicans are, to use Kinsey's words, "the forces of chastity." How else can you explain a normally sane man like Bill Frist advocating abstinence only education when every piece of scientific data says that teaching abstinance only doesn't work. Look at the teen birth and STD rates in Lubbock alone!

I campaigned for this guy in Tennessee. I respected him and, as a doctor, for him to irresponsibly cast aside pure science in exchange for the politics of chastity... it's equivalent to Al Gore's switch on abortion and Tipper's resignation from the committee on values when Bill Clinton nominated Al. It's a total betrayal of self and political will.

I'm disappointed with my party. I've been disappointed for a long time. And every headline only deepens my malaise. The ".xxx" tld, of which I wrote earlier, all the spending, the increases in government control through the patriot act, President Bush's completely abandonment of his social security privatization plan... Where is the Republican party who made a contract with america to reduce the size and influence of government? Where are the tax cuts and complimentary budget cuts? What ever happened to the party that advocated "states rights"?

And why is the Democratic party not calling them on it? Please guys, nominate someone who is a true viable candidate and i'll vote for you. Give me another indecisive gigolo married to ZaZa Gabor and a trial attorney and I swear I'll hold my nose and vote for the Theologues again. Your candidates make the Bushes look normal.

being digital

About four years ago, my boss moved us into a new building and we were checking out internet access pricing. That was the height of the internet bubble and pricing was much, much higher that it is now and many networks weren't nearly as built-out as they are now. Road Runner business class was available but not in the building, as was DSL. Other tenants in the office building where we were had a t-1 from XO communica-tion. As we began investigating options, a technology called "fixed wireless" came to the forefront. Fixed wireless is similar to the wireless hubs all over town in principal. There is a "central location" in a fixed wireless market. The customers put something akin to a "satellite dish" on their roof and aim it at the central location. The roof must be line-of-site of the mother ship and the connection gets funky with the weather. The landlord told us that we "weren't allowed" to put a connection on the roof of the building and that we would HAVE to go with XO if we wanted anything more than dial-up. My boss hit the roof. How dare they dictate to us the vendor from which we choose internet access.... as our business is internet programming and design, that constitutes "Restraint of Trade"... etc, etc..... ok, ok, whatever

When we told the fixed wireless people that we "weren't allowed" to install, they said that was common in their industry. The landlord didn't want to allow them roof access, didn't want the hardware on their and so on. They had a deal that if we could get 2 more people in the building to enlist, our installation and access was free. My boss countered that if he got them into the building, they would float us the access in exchange for the ability to sell other people on access. They bit, my boss fought the landlord and so we have free internet access. That was almost 5 years ago.

In those 5 years the service has been relatively slow.... but all of us are comparing it to the Road Runner we have at home. It's faster than dail-up and it's slowly gotten faster over the 5 years... or websites have gotten more optimized and it feels faster than it was when we first got it. Whatever the case... I feel the quality of service has slowly pro-gressed and the service itself is fine for a small office where other options are too costly or not available.

Tampa Bay is the lightning capitol of the world. There are more lightning strikes in this 5 county area than anywhere else in the world... some Fifty-Thousand every year. Tampa Bay's Hockey team is actually called "the Lightning". This past wednesday, during a massive lightning storm the building got hit. The installation on the roof was zapped as were the network cards in several computers.

Our company's internet access has been down since then. Why do we put up with it? Because it's free and my boss is too cheap to actually PAY for internet access because he's getting it for free.

So i've been tearing my hear out all day at work trying to get us back up. It's very odd to work in an office without internet access. Much of the things I take for granted I can no longer do. Last year I threw out all the yellow pages because we were all using Super-Pages or yahoo to look anything up. We've had to dial 411 on everything... which is a major pain.

No email, no IM. My roommate has been texting me about a project... I can't do any-thing about it, I'm not connected.

But mostly just a sense of "disconnected-ness" ... "uninvolved"-ness... irrelevancy... It's odd how just a few days of no internet can make you feel that way. Radio doesn't help and news on the cell phone's wap browser ain't gonna cut it. I gotta get connected again. I feel like a junkie who needs a fix. I won't be satisfied until I can hit news.yahoo.com and get a response.

I don't have a problem; I can quit anytime.

So the guy shows up at 3:30 and spends almost an hour on the roof. He's done around 4:30 and I begin trying to resurrect the server. I soon realize that the zap has taken both server network cards with it. A quick trip to best buy and I get a Linksys wireless router up in place of the server and I'm finally routing traffic. Thank god. I'm finally up and go-ing again.

pop ups

So my co-worker has 5 kids and they all download stuff to her computer at home. She told me she's very frustrated because everytime she uses the computer she gets a million popups. I told her that her computer was infected with spywear and I really hoped she wasn't checking her bank balance while she was on it or using any credit cards.

She gave me that blank stare as if it just occurred to her that someone could nefariously infect her computer and steal personal information.

I wonder how much of the "identity theft" problem is just knuckle-dragging windows users who go ahead and check their bank balance and buy thing with their MasterCard when their computer is infected.

Cingular: the billing bastards

So in January, Edward, his mom, Me and my mom consolidated our phones onto one Cingular account and we have yet to get a bill that is correct out of the envelope. Edward goes though this monthly ritual where we call, get put into the Bermuda voice-mail triangle that is Cingular customer service and then argue with them about how we really did makes changes to our account last month, of which they now have no record. It always ends up with cingular throwing us some little bone and giving us attitude when they're in the wrong and clearly loosing customer records every month.

My friend Ed went to Hawaii. Before he went we looked up the hotel on the internet and they're hi-speed access was like $9.99 a day... He was going to be there 15 days so that would have way to expensive. So I'm like... Just add unlimited MeDIA to your Cingular account and connect through your phone. At that time he still had an AT&T account and wasn't going to change any time in the near future, so we called AT&T and waited through THEIR Bermuda voice-mail triangle and got the laptop paired with the phone and boom, he's connected.

Then he dropped his phone in the Chicken Salad at his Subway restaurant. He went to get a new phone and came back with a new black Razr and a Cingular account. So we again, went thought the drama and got his phone working and MeDia added to his account. He gets back from Hawaii and gets his Cingular bill. The charged him over $300 in usage charges while he's there in Hawaii.

Fucking bastards.

He's on the phone with them almost an hour. Long story short, they took off half... Which is mighty white of them considering they fucked up.

I'm starting to think of them as the Microsoft of cell phones... no matter what the question with their service or the problem with their product, the answer is just to pay them more money.

Love & Theft

Some of you have emailed and asked me about what I think about M$ (microsoft's) stealing the patent for the iPod from Apple, so here's my take.

The iPod has one, maybe two Christmases left in it and it'll be a dead product. Phones and other digital devices are going to supplant it or there may be something completely new. Either way, This is a legal fight that will FAR outlast these devices and I can't see M$ putting that much money into the patent request and the ensuing legal battles for, at the most, 8 quarters worth of revenue. What this is about is slowing down apple innovation.

The computer industry hit a slump when the internet bubble burst. At that point Apple made the decision to "innovate it's way out of the slump." And out came products like GarageBand, iTunes, Pages and, of course the ipod itself. Those products have kept apple profitable and grown their market share when the rest of the industry is in a slump. Microsoft DESPERATELY wants to stop the Apple braintrust, or at least, handicap it. So they do what they've always done.

Lie, Cheat and Steal... or rather "acquire" technology.

People forget that the namesakes which fuel M$ continual earnings year after year are all acquired products... Word, Excel and Powerpoint were all acquired products. Dos was acquired. Windows was stolen... and not very well I might add. In fact, I can't think of one single thing that originated with microsoft... Somebody email me and tell me if i'm wrong...

Well, Good luck to them and I wish them well, but Apple not only has better karma, they have better products because that's where they spend their money and most of their energies.

Given that M$ is a Lie, Cheat, St.... er... Acquire company, if I were Bill Gates, here's what I'd do. I'd port the windows GUI to Linux and produce my own distribution of Linux. It would be 100 times more stable than any other version of windows and it would instantly be the dominant distribution in the linux market. Also with a strong unix-based kernel underneath the os, they wouldn't have near the security breaches they're now experiencing. They could then hire Linux Torvolds and claim that linux was actually a Microsoft technology.

But still wouldn't hold a candle to OS X.

Oh, and Bill, that light at the end of the tunnel... that's actually an oncoming train called "Mac OS X for Intel". Fear it.

The ".xxx" TLD

I read today that Some lower-level technology guy in the Commerce department has asked ICANN to slow down the execution of a .xxx TLD (top Level Domain) at the request of convervatives writing letters.

The department received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails expressing concerns about the impact of pornography on families and children and objecting to setting aside a domain suffix for it, he said.

"The volume of correspondence opposed to creation of a .xxx TLD (domain name) is unprecedented," Gallagher wrote to Vinton Cerf, ICANN's chairman.

And again, I hang my head in shame over stupid people who have currently invaded the republican political party.

Ok, first of all, if you send a "letter" to the commerce department, you have no business advising them on INTERNET policy. Period. Go buy an elvis stamp and maybe one day you'll get lucky enough to get an AOL CD in the mail and get yourself a an email address.

Second, the reason we need a .xxx TLD is BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!... Yea, that's right YOU, Mrs. Potato Salad living in suburban square state... You're the ones constantly prattling on about how much pornography is on the internet and how you get unsolicited emails inviting you to go to porn sites, all the while the porn industry racks up billions in sales from your husbands and teenage boys when you're at Super Wal-Mart buying groceries. You are the ones we're creating the .xxx domain for. You're constant chants of "protect the children, protect the children" are the only reason to have a .xxx TLD ...to allow filtering software to block .xxx content at places where such content will cause harm or is organizationally undesirable... e.g. Schools, Corporations, (and if you get your way) Libraries.

So rather than shoot down the people actually trying to HELP YOU why don't you go boycott disney, attend a pro-life rally or deny a marriage certficate to a lesbian couple somewhere... Do something with your life other than stick your nose into everyone else's computers (and bedrooms).

Oh, and BTW, Mrs. Suburban Square State, Your husband is having an affair with the Asian chick who foams the milk at Starbucks and your son blew me in bathroom at Borders last night. All of us correspond by email and IM and none of it would be considered internet porn under ICANN's current plan.

less is more

I will never understand why PC users and mac users alike feel the need to "install." I was recently diagnosing a problem on a friend's computer and his first response was "Well, can we download a utility that will take care of that." It's a hardware problem; No amount of downloading will make up for a hardware resource conflict. And, Again, can I take a moment and bitch about the fact that pc hardware is so fucked up installing even the smallest Mini-PCI card on a laptop can produce a BSOD. When apple starts making intel machines sometime next year, it will be interesting for PC users to begin to understand why we are constantly smug about the fact that OS-X "Just works".

Anyway, back to my simplicity rant. This friend (with the current HW issue) is the same one who a few months earlier had me re-format his hard drive because he had installed "SOMETHING-zilla" that alegedly blocked popups and spam, deleted viruses, and made perfect julienne fries, when in fact it was spyware. He was so anxious to download and install something that "solved his problem" that he ended up creating more problems.

Generally speaking, The less things on your computer you have "installed" the better. In the words of Joss Stone, less is more. Computers are pack animals. The less baggage they have to tote around, the more quickly they move.

Oh, and you knuckle-dragging pc users out there... if you get an email from some address with a @supersoftware.tw or @ezsupermaxi.cz address that makes stupendous claims and allows you to install some utility totally free of charge, please just delete the email. ...Or rather, don't... and remember I charge $90/HOUR with an on-site minimum of 2 hours.

More Routes

I've been posting updates regularly to my plan to add a subway to the tampa bay area. Here's the latest.

waking up to sticky rain

Waking up to a rainy day is a sacred experience and a rarity in Florida. For those of you that live north of the gnat line (somewhere between Valdosta and Macon, Georgia) you have a lot of days where it's gray and rainy and you wake up to the absence of the sun. In Florida, the sun shines practically every day, with few exceptions. On the exception days, we wake up to rain and for those of us who's brains are used to a morning injection of the immutable Florida sun, it's a revelation.

A few years back I had trouble sleeping. I would toss and turn all night. I started reading material about insomnia. Basically it's the body's confusion as to when it's time to wake and when it's time to rest. So the solution, I reasoned, was to set it straight.

I took melanin when I was ready to go to bed. I kept a strict regimen of ALWAYS going to bed at the same time and always waking up at the same time. I ate more fiber to make sure digestion was not a problem. I replaced my pillows with more back-friendly ones. But most of all, I made sure that first thing in the morning, the Florida sun streamed through my window and hit me square in the face. Over a period of a month, it worked. My sleep cycle returned to normal.

Because I depend so much on the sun to wake me up, Waking up to rain is a surreal experience for me. Like life has somehow been suspended and I'm in this rain world where I can take more time to examine and reflect.

I have an extra cup of coffee or tea. I take more time getting ready for work. I take more care driving to work. I read more.

The neighborhood sounds are different as well. The cars on the street outside are more muffled by the white noise of the water they disperse as they drive by. There are no sounds of construction in the neighborhood and no lawns being cut. The neighborhood is quieter and yet somehow louder.

Also, for those of you who live on the atlantic or pacific ocean, Gulf-coast rain is different. It's sticky.

Gulf Coast rain makes the air more humid and makes the already stifling heat, more saunautic. It's a hot steamy day in St. Petersburg, Florida. Let's go see what the day brings.

Latest Cell Phone

So a couple of posts back I sold my blackberry and I was going to get a new cell phone. Because of the money crunch with all of my driving drama, I ended up getting a "goPhone" for $30 - the Nokia 3120. It's very small, gets great reception and I really like it. If you need a cheap phone that just makes calls and does text messages, but onto which you can download a justin timerberlake ring tone, this is your phone.

Don't be so quick to walk away...
Dance with me!

in Memorium: Six Feet Under

It seems like only yesterday we were introduced to David, Nate, Ruth, Clair, Nathaniel, and the entire Fisher clan. I had just come out and my dealings with the church made me empathize with David's struggle with being gay as well as my desire to have sex with keith. My alienation from my family made me empathize with Nate. Each character had something unique in Television: a soul. Last night the realization that it was ending came to the surface with Nate's Feuneral.

I was a balling mess of tears on the floor.

How can you put into words what it means to you when entertainment so mirrors the thougths of your own soul that you desperately wish you had written it.

I've been with you during the bad episodes: David's abduction and Nate's multiple infidelities, clair's navel-gazing art-school days and ruth's acid-trip episode. I've reveled in the good and sometimes even great episodes... as last night's was.

But I think mostly I'll just miss the company. The company of the fishers... I feel like I was only just getting to know you.

Last night as Ruth patiently waited for david to compose himself and then led him by the hand to bury his brother, I knew it's days were numbered.

Each moment is precious and there are only 2 hours left.

You tell the stories and emotions of my life and will be sorely missed

traffic court

so my traffic court appearance was 2 weeks ago friday. When I got to the courthouse there was a sign on the door into the courtroom that read "court cancled; see information." At the information booth, a large black woman named Lucricia smiled up from her computer...

"You Musta not got the card... your address is prolly wrong in the compooter. Lemme see your ticket or your license."

"Thanks here..."

"Ok, what's your name Iroll.... how do you pronounce it..???"

"My first name is Irl, I go by Tom."

"What is that foreign or sumptin?"

"No, just some dumb kentucky potato farmer hick that couldn't spell three generations back."

Lucricia is laughing... "oh, you better stop. you gotta court date of next thursday."

So the date she writes down the date and time.

Somehow it gets stuck in my head that the new court date is the same time, 10:00. When I arrive there at court, i notice the time lucricia has written down is actually 8:30. Fuck. As I walk in the courtroom, the baliff waves me into a seat right as i'm noticing the time.

I walk back out of the courtroom and get in line to see lucricia again.

You gotta get it re-scheduled. And you gotta get it done today. They issue a warrent for your arrest if you fail to show up. You don't want that."

I most certainly DON'T want that.

So I take a number from lucricia. It's 59. They're service 22. Welcome to the Pinellas County Court System. I go across the street and get a smoothie. It's not jamba juice. Having to deal with all of this on a stomach full of ghetto smoothie... I don't know if i'm going to make it.

I get back... now service 36. Fuck. I wait my turn, all the while court going on just inside the courtroom. Finally It's my turn.

Oh, if they're still holding court, the judge will fit you in after the 10:30 session. Oh, Great. So I race back into the courtroom. The 10:30 session is still in full force at 11:30. I wait through 60 plus cases being herd praying for some sort of heart episode to take me away from this.

At last they are calling the defendants that waited around from the 8:30 session. I may yet have a chance of solving this today. Most of the cases are routine... non-paid speeding tickets, expired registrations, 15 year olds with unpaid moped registrations. At last it's the last defendant. It's some long child support drama with 3 different counties involved and 2 baby's momma's... dear god, please... some sort of courtroom violence to break the bordom.... please just a little.

As he's finishing up, the baliff asks me if i'm with him. I tell him my story. He speaks to the court recorder and after baby's daddy is disposed of, the court recorder tells the judge the story. She also points to her computer screen showing the judge that the warrant has already been issued for my arrest.

I need a drink.... is it too early to drink?

The judge calmly says... "well, he's here, lets just dismiss the warrent and the criminal charges. Get his case file back up here."

I owe the judge a blow job.

The judge dismisses all criminal charges and knocks them down to civil charges because i've got all my paperwork caught up.

Thought this case load, I've seen many defendants ask the judge for community service instead of fines so I ask the judge since i've already paid close to $1000 to the state of florida if I could do community service instead of paying court costs. He gives me 20 hours. I've got some gratis work coming up for edward's non-profit. That will more than cover it.

The judge adjourns for lunch and I head to Tijuana Flats for a couple of tacos and a pint.

Schadenfreude

The first Viruses were discovered for the unreleased Windows Vista... God it feels feels good to be a mac user today.... They should actually change the slogan of the OS to "Just like a mac, only with more vulnerabilities and more blindly trusted."

lust

Damn, now I gotta go sell my body on the streets to buy a new mouse